Notes payable and other borrowings - Credit agreements - Narrative (Detail) $ in Billions	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)
Line of Credit and Commercial Paper Facilities [Member] \| Subsidiaries [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Unused lines of credit available	$ 7.7
Line of Credit and Commercial Paper Facilities [Member] \| Subsidiaries [Member] \| Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company and Subsidiaries [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Unused lines of credit available	4.0
Subsidiaries Excluding Berkshire Hathaway Finance Corporation [Member] \| Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (Parent) [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Guarantee obligation	$ 1.9

Maximum potential amount of future payments (undiscounted) the guarantor could be required to make under the guarantee or each group of similar guarantees before reduction for potential recoveries under recourse or collateralization provisions.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 460
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (b)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82913245&loc=d3e12069-110248

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of borrowing capacity currently available under the credit facility (current borrowing capacity less the amount of borrowings outstanding).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.19(b),22(b))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
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- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
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Balance Type:
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- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=brka_BerkshireHathawayEnergyCompanyAndSubsidiariesMember
Namespace Prefix:
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- Details

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- Details

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Data Type:	na
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